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Attendance
Aiming for 100%
Children should only be absent from school in cases of illness, treatment or exceptional circumstances.
Regular attendance is a vital factor in ensuring that children are safe, happy and can achieve their true academic potential. As a school, we strive to provide a welcoming and caring environment where each member of the school community feels valued and secure, ensuring pupils’ safety at every stage. Whilst the responsibility for ensuring that children attend school regularly and punctually rests with parents/carers, we have a duty of care to follow up any absence and support, advise and offer guidance to parents/carers and pupils, through positive and consistent communication between home and school ensuring all our pupils can maximise the learning opportunities available to them.
The Education Act 1996 states that parents/carers have a duty of care and therefore must ensure that their children of compulsory school age receive appropriate full-time education according to their age, ability, and aptitude. This requires their children to attend school regularly and punctually.
Poor attendance, including late arrival, has the following effects:
- Gaps in learning
- Frequently missed lessons.
- Missed social contact leading to potential social isolation.
- Missed teacher input for their first and/or subsequent lessons.
- A rushed start to the day
- Setting bad patterns for work in later life
- Disruptive to the whole class
Absence due to illness
Parents should always inform the school by 8.30am on the first day of absence, by email to info@skps.org.uk, or by telephone, stating your child’s name and reason for absence, so that we can record this promptly and accurately on the register.
Please inform the school immediately if an infectious illness has been diagnosed by a doctor, and the advice given by him/her.
You can obtain advice from the school office as to when it is appropriate for your child to return to school following an illness, particularly following sickness or tummy upset, when the 48hr rule applies.
Non-urgent dental and medical appointments should be made outside of school hours whenever possible.
Absence requests
Any absence requests must be made using the Withdrawal from Education Form which is available from the school office.
